Barrel-leveling machine.



T. JOHNSON. BARREL LBVELING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT-27, 1911 Patented Jan.16,191'2.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

T. JOHNSON. V BARREL LEVELING MACHINE.

PPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 27, 1911.

Patented Jan. 16, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHIEET 2.

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IT. JOHNSON.

' BARREL LVELING MACHINE.

APPLICATION HLBD SEPT. 27, 1911.

Patented Jan. 16, 1912.

4 SHBETB-SHEET 3.

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COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co..wAsHlNaToN. D. c.

T. JOHNSON.

BARREL LEVBLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED sBPTm, 1911.

:Panam-.ed Jan. 16, 1912.

4 SHEETS-.SHEET 4.

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UNITED STATES vPATENT OFFICE.

THORWALD JOHNSON, or cHrcAGo, ILLrNors. f

BARREL-LEVELING MACHINE.

Application filed September 27, 1911.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 16,1912.

Serial No. 651,571.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, THoRwALD JOHNSON,

ing the staves of the barrel in the process of manufacture.

As is well known, the barrel staves in. the rough are assembled and held in place by temporary hoops before the ends are linally shaped to hold the heads, and it has been the practice to bounce the ends of the barrels by hand upon a solid surface to level the staves while they are held by the tem prary hoops and before they are placed in the machine which shapes the ends of the staves, and it is the object of my invention to produce a machine which will bounce the barrels automatically, rapidly and in a satisfactory manner, thus saving time and eX- pense in their manufacture.

To illustrate my invention, I annex hereto four sheets of drawings, in which the same reference characters are used to designate identical parts in all the figures, of which,-

Figure l is a front elevation of the complete machine, the barrel being shown in dotted lines, the parts being in the position assumed before the barrel is dropped to bounce it; Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation.`

tion as they are in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a detailin plan view on the line B--B of Fig. l; and Fig. 5 is a plan view in section on the line C-C of Fig. 1.

The machine must be provided with a heavy, solid base 10, which preferably consists of a heavy metal casting embedded in the floor 11 of the establishment, and I secure rigidly to this base l() a pair of vertical standards 12 and 13, upon the upper ends of which is bolted the cross piece 14 having the brackets 15 and 16, the upper ends of which are provided with bearings 17 and 18 for the drive shaft 19, which has on the outer end the customary loose belt wheel 20, which can be clutched or unclutched to the in the customary manner. This shaft 19 is provided with a cam 22 which coperates with the anti-friction roller 23 journaled in the top of the guiding frame 24, which is adapt-ed to slide freely up and down and be guided in bearings 25 suitably supported on the shaft 19. f

It will be noted that the cam 22 is shaped so as to raise the frame 24 quickly, and to release it and allow it to fall instantly when it passes the highestpoint of the cam. This frame24 is connected by the rod 26 with the lever 27 which is fulcrumed at 28 in aslot 29 in the floor 11 andrso located that the forward portion of the lever can swing up and down in a similar slot 30-in the frame base 10. As best seen in Fig. 5, this frame base 10 has a plurality, preferably three, of radiating slots 31, which, together with the aperture 32 in the center, are adapted to receive the spider 33, which consistsy of thc central portion and a number of arms 34 corresponding to and occupying the slots 31.

This spider is pivotally connected at 35 to the lever 27, and it is obvious that a barrel 36 that is placed centrally over the aperture 32 will have its lower end engaged by the spider and. lifted quickly and suddenly released by the action of the cam 22 upon the anti-friction roller 23, so that as the shaft 19 is rotated the barrel will be bounced rapidly up and down upon the massive and solid base 10, thus insuring the staves being quickly jarred down so that the lower end of the barrel will be perfectly level, and when the lower ends of the staves are leveled, they are, in the rough, sufficiently uniform in length so that the upper end will be level enough to permit of the shaping machine acting thereon `to trim off the ends y and cut out the groove which receives the head of the barrel.

To guide the barrel in its up and down movement and to keep it in place, I provide the guide head 37, which is carried by the shaft or rod 38 which is mounted to slide i vertically in bearings 39 and 40 carried by the bracket 41 boltedto the cross piece 14. The head 37 has a plurality, preferably three, of equidistant arms 41, through which the bolts 42 are adapted to pass, so that the generally rectangular guide fingers 43 can be radially adjusted as is necessary to coperate with barrels having heads of dierent diameters. It will, of course, be understood vtion of the barrel on the base.

that the horizontal portions of the fingers 43' are provided with the slots 44 indicated in shown in Fig. 2, where it is raised to permitthe barrel to be put in the machine, to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 3, where it is lowered to center andhold the barrel in position, and vice versa, I provide the hand lever 45, which for convenience of manipulation has the shape shown, and which is pivoted to the standard 13 at 46. The lever 45 is pivoted at 47 to a link 48, the upper end of which is pivoted to the crank arm 49 secured upon theA rock shaft 50 journaled in bearingsl formed in or secured to the cross piece 14. rlhe rock shaft 50 has secured on its inner end the pair of crank arms 52, which in turn have pivoted thereto the pair of links 53, the lower ends of which are pivoted on the collar 54, which is preferably adjustably secured. on the shaft 38 between the bearings 39 and 40, and which is conveniently secured in the desired position of adjustment by the set screw 55. Of course,

the vertical adjustment is provided to adapt the machine for barrels of different lengths. It will be obviousthat as the hand lever 45 is swung to the position-shown in Fig. 3, the guide head will be lowered, and as it is swung to the position shown in Fig. 2, it will be raised.

To accurately position the bottom of the barrel on the base 10, I provide two stationary guide fingers 56 and 57, together with a similar movable one, 58, which is mounted so'that it can be swung into the dotted line position shown in Fig. 5, where it is out of the way enough to permit the ready inser- When the barrel is in place and the movable finger 58 is swung back to full-line position, the three ngers serve to center the barrel accurately with reference to the guide head 37. It will be noted that the fingers 56 and 57 are angular and that their horizontal portions have slots 59 through which bolts 60 are passed to secure them in any desired position of adjustment necessary to guide barrels of any particular size. The finger 58 is, by similar means, adjustably secured on one arm of a bell crank lever 61 which is fulcrumed on the base 10 at 62 and is connected by the link 63 with the vertical arm 64 of a bell crank lever 65 formed by securing the vertical arm 64 and a horizontal arm 66 on the rock shaft 67 journaled in bearings 68 and 69 formed on the standards 12 and 13, respectively. The horizontal arm 66 is connected by a link 7 0V with the lower end of the link 48, so

uthat when the lever 45 is raised to lift the guide `head 37 out of the barrel, the guide finger 58 will at the saine time be swung out of the way preparatory to inserting another barrel. Then the lever 45 is swung up to the position shown in Fig. 3 to lower the guide head 37 into the t-op of the barrel, the finger 58 is at the same time swung inward and engages the bottom of the barrel, if it is not already accurately positioned, and forces it against the fingers 56 and 57, thus accurately positioning the barrel, so that when the lever 2l is thrown to clutch the pulley 2() on the shaft 19 to begin bouncing the barrel, it will be positioned accurately, and will be guided as it is raised up on the fingers 43 of the head 37, and will similarly be guided as it falls by the fingers 56, 57 and 58.

rIhe operation of my complete apparatus will be readily understood from the foregoing description, and a machine built in accordance with the foregoing disclosure will serve to level a barrel with great rapidity in a few seconds', by means of a few bumps and without any undue noise.

While I have shown and described my invention as embodied in the form which I at present consider best adapted to carry out its purposes, it will be understood that it is capable of modifications, and that I do not desire to be limited in the interpretation of the following claims eXcept as may be necessitated by the state of the prior art.

What I have shown as new, and desire to secureV by Letters Patent of the United States, is: n

1. In a barrel leveling machine, the combination with a rigid. base member, of a movable spider adapted to be raised above nism for centering a barrel over said spider, and automatic mechanism forraising and quickly lowering said spider to bounce a larrel centered thereon upon said base memer. Y V

2. In a barrel leveling machine, the combination with a rigid base member,iof a movable spider adapted to be raised above and lowered into said'base, guiding mecha- Y nism for-centering a barrel over said spider, including a guide head having guiding surfaces adapted tobe raised and lowered into the top of the barrel on the spider, and automatic mechanism for vraising and quickly lowering said spider to bounce a larrel centered thereon upon said base mem- 3. In a barrel leveling machine, the combination with a rigid base member, of a movable spider adapted to be raised above and lowered into said base, guiding mechanism for centering a barrel over said spider, including radially disposed guide fingers on the base adapted to coperate with the eX- terior of the bottom of a-barrel on the'spider,

and automatic mechanism for raising and and lowered into said base, guiding mechaquickly lowering said spider to bounce a Ilbarrel centered thereon upon said base mem- 4. In a barrel leveling machine, the combination with a rigid base member, of a movable spider adapted to be raised above and lowered into said base, guiding mechanism for centering a barrel over said spider, -comprising a guide head having guidin surfaces adapted to be raised and lowere into the top of a barrel on the spider, together with radially disposed guide lingers on the base adapted to coperate with the exterior of the bottom of said barrel, and automatic mechanism for raising and quickly lowering said spider to bounce a arrel centered thereon upon said base mem- 5. In a barrel leveling machine, the combination with a rigid base member, of a movable spider adapted to be raised above and lowered into said base, guiding mechanism for centering a barrel over said spider, a lever having a power arm shorter than the load arm connected to the spider so that the latter constitutes the load', a cam shaft, and

connections between the shaft and the lever so that as the former is rotated the spider will be raised and quickly lowered by the action of the cam, for the purpose described.

6. In a barrel leveling machine, the combinat-ion with a rigid base member, of a movable spider adapted to be raised above and lowered into said base, guiding mechanism for centering a barrel over said spider, a lever having a power arm shorter than the load arm attached to the spider so that the latter constitutes the load, a drive shaft, a frame embracing said drive shaft, an antiriction roller carried by the frame, a cam secured on the shaft within the frame cooperating with the anti-friction roller, and a rcd connecting the frame andthe lever, substantially as and for the purpose described.

7 In a barrel leveling machine, the combination with a rigid base member having a plurality of slots in its upper surface radiating from a common center, of a movable spider comprising a corresponding plurality of arms adapted to fit in the slots so that it can be raised above and lowered into said base, guiding mechanism for centering a barrel over said spider, and automatic mechanism for raising and quickly lowering said spider to bounce abarrel centered thereon upon said base member.

8. In a barrel leveling machine, the combination with a rigid base member, of a movable spider adapted to be raised above and lowered into said base, guiding mechanism for centering a barrel over said spider, including radially disposed guide ngers on the base adapted to coperate with the eX- terior of the bottom of a barrel on the spider, automatic mechanism for raising and quickly lowering said spider to bounce a barrel centered thereon upon said base member, and meansy for swinging one of said guide fingers to and from the center of the base.

9. In a barrel leveling machine, the combination vwith a rigid base member, of a movable spider adapted to be raised above and lowered into said base, guiding mechanism for centering a barrel over said spider, including radially disposed guide fingers on the base adapted to cooperate with the exterior of the bottom of the barrel on the spider, automatic mechanism for raisingand quickly lowering said spider to bounce the barrel centered thereon upon said base member, and means for swinging one of said guide fingers to and from the center of the base and simultaneously lowering and rais-- ing the guide head.

l0. In a barrel leveling machine, the combination with a rigid base member, of a barrel supporting member adapted to raise and lower a barrel, automatic mechanism for raising and quickly lowering said barrelsupporting member to bounce a barrel carried thereby, and guiding `mechanism lfor centering the barrel on said barrel-supporting member, said mechanism including a guide head having guiding surfaces ada ted to be raised and lowered into the top o the barrel.

11. In a barrel leveling machine, the combination with a rigid base member, of a barrel-supporting member adapted to raise and lower a barrel, automatic mechanism for raising and quickly lowering said barrelsupporting member to bounce a barrel carried thereby, and guiding mechanism for centering a barrel on said barrel-supporting member, said mechanism including ,radially disposed guide lingers on the base member adapted to coperate with the exterior of the bottom of said barrel.

12. In a barrel leveling machine, the combination with a rigid base member, of a barrel-supporting member adapted to raise and lower a barrel, automatic mechanism for raising and quickly lowering said barrelsupport-ing member to bounce a barrel carried thereby, and guiding mechanism for centering a barrel on said barrel-supporting member, said mechanism including a guide head having guiding surfaces adapted to be raised and lowered into the top of said barrel, together with radially disposed guide fingers on the base member adapted to cooperate with the exterior of the bottom of said barrel.

13. In a barrel leveling machine, the combination with a rigid base member, of a barrel supporting member adapted to raise and lower a barrel, automatic mechanism for raising and quickly lowering said barrelsupporting member to bounce albarrel carrled thereby, guiding mechanism for centering a barrel on said barrel-supporting member, said mechanism including a guide head having guiding surfaces adapted to be raised and lowered into the top of said barrel, to-

gether with radially disposed guide fingers on the base member adapted to coperate with the exterior of the bottom of said barrel, and means for swinging one of said guide ngers to and from the center of the base member.

14. In a barrel leveling machine, the com- Aand lowered into the top of said barrel, to-

gether with radially disposed guide ingers lon the base member adapted to cooperate with the exterior of the bottom of said barrel, and means for swinging one of said Yguide fingers to and from the center of the base member and simultaneously lowering and raising the guide head.

15. In a barrel leveling machine, the combination with a base member, of a guide head carrying a plurality of lingers adapted to be reciprocated above the base, guide iingers on the base concentric with the guide head, a lever upon which one of the base guide fingers is secured, and connections for simultaneously reciprocating the guide head and swinging the lever.

16. In a barrel leveling machine, the combinat-ion with a base member, of a guide head carrying a plurality of fingers adapted to be reciprocated above the base, guide fingers on the base concentric with the guide head, a lever upon which one of the base guide fingers is secured, and connections Jfor simultaneously reciprocating the guide head and swinging the lever, said connections consisting of a hand lever, a link extending therefrom up to the guide head, a link extending therefrom down toward the lever, a bell crank lever attached to the downwardly extending link, and a horizontal link connecting the bellcrank lever and the guide-finger supporting lever.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal, this 25th day of September, A. D. 1911. y

Y THORWALD JOHNSON. [n s] Witnesses:

HENRY F. FELZ, JOHN HOWARD McELRoY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by euidressing;l the Commissioner of Patents,

- Washington, D. G. 

